Joplin falls in overtime

May 13, 2008 12:47 am

— From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
The Nixa Eagles managed to slip past Joplin 2-1 in double overtime in aClass 2 District soccer matchup at Junge Field on Monday.
Parkview beat Neosho 3-1 in the first match.
As coach Ed Miller described, it was a frustrating end to Joplin’s season. After going toe-to-toe with Nixa for two overtimes, the decision came down to Joplin being outscored 3-0 in penalty kicks.
“I thought the girls played one of their best games of the year,” Miller said. “Everybody was working hard. We had players coming off the bench giving us some good (play).”
Nixa hung in despite Joplin’s early goal. The Eagles scored at 17:00 on Stephanie Taylor’s assist to Lauren Copple.
But then Joplin had difficulty scoring.
Shot after shot hit the crossbar and it seemed there was nothing going Joplin’s way despite a 1-0 lead. To make matters worse, Nixa finally found the net with just 20 seconds left in the first half on a deflected shot.
“We kept hitting the crossbar,” Miller said. “We were all the way around the goal all night long, we just couldn’t put it in (the net).”
Joplin more than doubled Nixa’s shot total, 23-12. Still, not much happened for the Eagles in the second half or each of the two overtimes.
“I thought our girls played really hard tonight,” Miller said. “They left it all on the field. By the time the game was over they were tired.”
Joplin ends the season at 11-11. Nixa moves on to face Kickapoo at 7 p.m. today at Junge Field. Ozark will take on Parkview at 5.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.